The Significance Of The Kingdom Of God Series

In an earlier century, there lay a large boulder in the middle of the roadway. Traveler after traveler walked past the boulder, veering off the side of the road to get around it. All the while, they were shaking their head and muttering, "Can you believe that? Someone should get that big thing out of the way. What an inconvenience! "Finally, a man came along and, seeing the boulder, took a branch from a tree and pried the boulder enough to get it rolling and rolled it off to the side of the road.

Lying underneath the rock, he found a small bag with a note. The man picked up the note and read it. It read as follows: "Thank you for being a true servant of the kingdom. Many have passed this way and complained because of the state of the problem and spoken of what ought to be done. But you have taken the responsibility upon yourself to serve the kingdom instead. You are the type of citizen we need more of in this kingdom. Please accept this bag of gold that traveler after traveler have walked by simply because they didn’t care enough about the kingdom to serve."

I wonder what "bags of gold" we’re missing each day, simply because we don’t bother to get involved in serving our heavenly kingdom. When I gave my life to Jesus in the 80’s I realized that I belonged to the Kingdom of God. In those days it was a major theme in the Christian world. But unfortunately in the 21st century many Christians don’t even know there is something called the Kingdom of God, let alone getting involved in Kingdom service. For the next few weeks we will look into this all too important, yet largely over looked subject the Kingdom of God. Today we are going to learn about why a Christian should know about the Kingdom of God and how this would impact their day to day living.

When I talk about the Kingdom of God I am not talking the movie called “the Kingdom of Heaven” produced in 2005 but I am talking about the Kingdom of God found in all four gospels and in the Apostle Paul’s letters. It is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. What is the significance of the kingdom of God? Five reasons, why the Kingdom of God is significant?

I. OT PROHETS PROPHESIED ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Kings and Kingdoms were well known to the Old Testament people. When God called Abraham from among the heathen nations his intention was to form a Kingdom for Himself through the offspring of Abraham. Rightly, so Abraham was called, “A mighty prince” literally meaning “prince of God.”(Gen 23:6) We know the rest of the story, Abraham had two sons namely Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael became the father of 12 princes but the covenant of God was established through Isaac. Later on Isaac became the father of Jacob out of whom came the twelve tribes of Israel. At one point Israel was one huge united Kingdom.

The greatest king who ever lived in Israel was King David. Several OT prophets predicted that one day God will establish His Kingdom on earth through the offspring of David. In 722 B.C the prophet Isaiah prophesied, Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child has born for us the gift of a son for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. He’ll rule from historic David throne over that promised kingdom. He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing and keep it going, with fair dealing and right living beginning now and lasting always. (The Message).

This scripture is predicting that one day all nations, including the sovereign and the so called rouge nations, as a matter of fact, the whole earth will come under the rule of Christ. The second reason of significance is Jesus’ birth.

II. JESUS USHERED IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Hundreds of years later after Isaiah’s first prophecy we began to see its fulfillment. Do you recall the Carols we sing during Christmas season, what are they all about? They were the announcements of the angles about the birth of the Savior of the world. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.” Luke (2:9-12 The Message).We know that the baby was not an ordinary baby.